Poems by Violet Fane [i.e. M. M. Lamb] With Portrait engraved by E. Stodart ... in two volumes |
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MY KING.
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 | Poems by Violet Fane [i.e. M. M. Lamb] |  |
23
MY KING.
Of this poor heart you ask me who is King,
Since to your eyes so many seem to reign;
Alas! the kingdom is so small a thing
That, like the unaccepted throne of Spain,
Methought my little crown had gone unclaim'd,
Or scorn'd maybe, if I had ever named,
Who was the King.
Since to your eyes so many seem to reign;
Alas! the kingdom is so small a thing
That, like the unaccepted throne of Spain,
Methought my little crown had gone unclaim'd,
Or scorn'd maybe, if I had ever named,
Who was the King.
Both old and young pretenders oft have strove
To plant their alien banners and be King;
And all the hot artillery of love
With mad acclaim, has echo'd, thundering
Its perilous appeal through all my heart,
But of that stronghold, or its meanest part,
They were not King.
To plant their alien banners and be King;
And all the hot artillery of love
With mad acclaim, has echo'd, thundering
Its perilous appeal through all my heart,
But of that stronghold, or its meanest part,
They were not King.
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Yet on that hidden throne a King is set,
A tyrant, a more arbitrary king
Than erst was Tudor or Plantagenet,
And to this rebel kingdom did he bring
Such dear destruction, such sweet sophistry,
That if it could it would not now be free
From such a King.
A tyrant, a more arbitrary king
Than erst was Tudor or Plantagenet,
And to this rebel kingdom did he bring
Such dear destruction, such sweet sophistry,
That if it could it would not now be free
From such a King.
At first it would not own his tender sway,
And feared to call the dear usurper King,
But all its trusted bulwarks broke away,
Where they had seem'd the strongest, and the ring
Of “Victory!” resounded through the air
Before the vanquish'd knew the foe was there,—
And he was King!
And feared to call the dear usurper King,
But all its trusted bulwarks broke away,
Where they had seem'd the strongest, and the ring
Of “Victory!” resounded through the air
Before the vanquish'd knew the foe was there,—
And he was King!
Oh! trebly crown'd as with a papal crown!
Of heart, and soul, and all my senses, King!
Giver of all the bliss my life has known!
Sharer of all worth my remembering!
Creator of so many thoughts and schemes,
Of this, my bond slave heart, and all its dreams
You are the King!
Of heart, and soul, and all my senses, King!
Giver of all the bliss my life has known!
Sharer of all worth my remembering!
Creator of so many thoughts and schemes,
Of this, my bond slave heart, and all its dreams
You are the King!
| Poems by Violet Fane [i.e. M. M. Lamb] | |